It has been three weeks since Kermit Gosnell was found guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of three babies, involuntary manslaughter in the overdose death of a mother seeking an abortion, and over 200 counts of violating Pennsylvania state abortion laws. As the dust settles from the shocking revelations of that trial, many wonder if any good will come out of it.

Early indications are positive.

Even before the verdict was delivered, 95 congressmen co-sponsored a bill called the District of Columbia Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. If passed into law, this bill would ban elective abortions in D.C. at the point a baby is capable of feeling pain, identifying 20 weeks in the womb and even younger as falling in this category. Thanks to the publicity surrounding the Gosnell case, this same type of protection is now being pursued for every state in the union.

As Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte remarked,
“The terrifying facts uncovered during the course of the trial of late-term abortionist Kermit Gosnell, and successive reports of similar atrocities committed across the country, remind us how an atmosphere of insensitivity can lead to horrific brutality. The grand jury report in the Gosnell case itself contains references to a neonatal expert who reported that the cutting of the spinal cords of babies intended to be late-term aborted would cause them, and I quote, ‘a tremendous amount of pain.’ These facts justify expanding the application of this bill nationwide, and I fully support Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Franks’ intention to do so.”

In addition to inspiring change in our laws, the Gosnell case is inspiring scrutiny of other abortion doctors, exposing similarly gruesome practices that demand elimination. Dr. Douglas Karpen, who operates two clinics in Houston, has been accused of many of the atrocities found in the Gosnell clinic and is being investigated by county authorities, the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Medical Board.

Several abortion clinics in Maryland had their licenses suspended late last month as well.

For those of us who support the right to life, these reports are encouraging, but we need to keep the Gosnell story relevant, lest it become yesterday’s news, and forgotten.

The powerful 1993 movie, Schindler’s List, tells of Oskar Schindler, a German industrialist who viewed the holocaust with casual indifference, that is, until he noticed a young girl in a red coat, first as she meandered her way through a crowd, and then later, as she laid dead on a cart carrying Jews for incineration. Her red coat, being the singular splash of color in the black-and-white film, stuck out to Schindler, signifying a real life, causing him to come to grips with the horror of the holocaust. That insight, according to the story, moved him to action.

May the news of those butchered in Gosnell’s clinic have the same effect on us, being our red coat, and move us to action.

Posted by Nate Kellum